


the light of the ethereal moon

by vexatioustothespirit



Series: edeleth week 2k19 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Edeleth Week, F/F, Post Timeskip, just light fluff, just pretend the war goes on a little longer in the CF route to allow for this, no real spoilers or anything though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-07 23:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexatioustothespirit/pseuds/vexatioustothespirit
Summary: A year has passed since the millenium festival. Byleth and Edelgard talk and then they dance.





	the light of the ethereal moon

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to try and get past my writer's block by doing some drabble for Edeleth week. 
> 
> Here's day 1, first dance.

Edelgard’s heels click on the stone floor of the reception hall.

She looks at the empty expanse and lets out a sigh. While it is usually vacant at this time of night, right now it feels more empty than usual, and while she had never been much of one for crowds, still to have someone, anyone else would be--

“Hello, Edelgard.”

Edelgard turns, startled out of her distant thoughts. 

“Oh. Good evening, Byleth,” she greets her former professor, “What brings you here?”

Byleth shrugs. “My feet brought me here,” she deadpans. 

Edelgard chuckles softly and shakes her head. “Your sense of humor still leaves something to be desired.”

“It got you to laugh, didn’t it?”

Edelgard doesn’t have a response to that. 

Byleth walks over and stands beside her emperor. “What are you looking at?”

“Hm?”

“When I came in, it seemed like you were looking at something.” 

“Oh, ah, forgive me, Byleth. You have caught me in a moment of nostalgia.” Upon Byleth’s blank expression, she clarifies. “Tonight marks a year since what would have been the millenium festival if things hadn’t… well....” she trails off and Byleth nods. 

“I see.”

Edelgard smiles, her expression distant, lost in another time. “Do you remember six years ago? The ball?”

Byleth frowns, crossing her arms. “I remember there being far too much dancing and talking. It was exhausting.” 

She chuckles in response. “Blunt as ever, my dear friend.”

Byleth looks at her thoughtfully. “I remember talking to you in the Goddess Tower afterwards.” 

Edelgard feels color rise to her face and looks away. “Oh, I can’t believe you still remember that, it was a lifetime ago. I was such a child then.” 

“I remember talking about…” she trails off, her eyes fixated on some unseen point in the distance. “You know, I danced with a lot of people that night, but I don’t think I ever managed to dance with you.” 

“...no, I don’t think you did,” responds Edelgard after a pause. 

“Hm,” muses Byleth.

The two stand in silence for a few moments longer before Byleth extends a hand. “Shall we dance now?”

Edelgard looks at her, disbelief and confusion clear on her features. “What?”

“It seems right,” says Byleth. “It’s the date of the ball. Just because there’s a war going on, that shouldn’t stop us from dancing.”

“I thought you said you hated all of the dancing.”

“Hm, that I did,” says Byleth thoughtfully. “But I think I’d quite like to dance with you, if you’d like.” 

Edelgard takes her hand, placing her other hand on Byleth’s shoulder. “There’s no music, though.”

“I’m not a very good dancer, I don’t think it would help.” She pauses, contemplative. “We could get Dorothea or Manuela to help.”

“No, that’s alright, I think I quite like it being just the two of us.”

“I think I like that too.”

Edelgard ducks her head and smiles, her stomach pleasantly fluttering. The two sway back and forth for a while, not terribly gracefully (not that either of them care) but moving well together all the same. The two are quiet (though Edelgard swears that Byleth must be able to hear the sound of her pounding heart) but they are smiling and--as much as Edelgard is shocked to believe this considering everything going on--they are happy. 

After some time, Edelgard moves in closer, resting her head on Byleth’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she says, her words vibrating against Byleth’s collarbone.

“For what?”

Staying by her side. Giving her hope again. Protecting her heart. “This dance.”

Byleth nods. “Thank you for this dance as well.” A pause. “Maybe dancing isn’t all bad as long as it’s with the right person.” 

Edelgard smiles and the two continue to sway together as the ethereal moon illuminates the sky. 


End file.
